Central Pacific
parent net up

Marketing and cost management
cited for the increase

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

CPB Inc., parent company of Central Pacific Bank, today reported a first-quarter profit of $3.68 million, up 1.4 percent from the profit of $3.63 million reported a year earlier.

Per-share earnings of 38 cents were up 11.8 percent from 34 cents in the year-earlier period, with 8 percent fewer shares outstanding.

Joichi Sato, board chairman and chief executive officer, said marketing efforts and cost controls produced increased earnings despite the ninth year of Hawaii's economic stagnation.

As of March 31, CPB's total assets were $1.57 billion, up 3.1 percent from $1.52 billion at the end of the year-earlier quarter. Deposits of $1.26 billion were up 5.2 percent from $1.2 billion at the end of the 1998 quarter. Loans of $1.13 billion were up 6.6 percent from $1.06 billion a year earlier.

During the year, the bank made substantial progress in clearing delinquent loans and other nonperforming assets, cutting them by more than half to $16.8 million, from $35.8 million a year earlier.

Sato said the bank has so far met all its deadlines for Y2K compliance and has tested most of its "mission-critical" systems to make sure they will work.

Central Pacific is Hawaii's third largest bank with 27 branches statewide, including eight in supermarkets. The company also announced a first-quarter dividend of 13 cents a share, the same as the year-earlier dividend.